Dryhg Oui
by Mariko Azrael
Summary: PRTF. 'Dryhg Oui' is Al Bhed for 'Thank you'. AU, Katie X Trip, fusion with Final Fantasy X2.


Disclaimer: Not mine

Notes: This is for the prau100 challenge comm on LiveJournal. Which means, yes, I've signed up to write one hundred Katie/Trip stories (actually, I'm committed to fifteen, but I'm going to try for one hundred!). And yes, I'm still working on Katie/Trip for prfic100. And for 30sexyfics. Which means if for some insane reason I can finish all these challenges, I'll have written 230 stories. I know, I know. Just be happy I don't write for an annoyingly popular couple.

This is a fusion fic with Final Fantasy X-2 and there are no spoilers for either Time Force or the game. I got my Al Bhed dialog from Final Fantasy Insider, apologies if I managed to mess it up.

--

Whoever he was, Katie could already tell that he wasn't from around here.

Aside from Lady Yuna's friend, not many Al Bhed came to Besaid Island-- until today. And judging from the small crowd that was gathering around her, others had to come to watch him work-- if by that you meant 'glare on disapprovingly'.

What Katie wanted to do was tell them to back off and let the poor guy do his job (even if he seemed completely oblivious to their glares)… but she knew that it wouldn't do any good. Even with the Calm and machines gradually becoming part of everyday life, there would always be people who would cling to Yevon's old ways.

_Nevermind that Yevon never did anything for us--_

Katie pushed her darker thoughts back as she focused on the task at hand. Unless she did something now, there was a good chance that someone in the crowd was going to do more than stare soon. Yes, Besaid was peaceful and managed to steer (mostly) clear of the New Yevon and Youth League rivalry… but they did have their fair share of malcontents who would be more than happy to vent their frustrations on the first easy target that presented itself, and she refused to let that happen.

So Katie took a breath, shoved her way out of the crowd, and hoped the Ah Bhed wouldn't take offense when she approached him. To her relief, he didn't. In fact, he didn't even notice she was there (although with the heavy hood and goggles he was wearing, it was probably hard for him to notice anything) as he struggled to pick up one of the larger pieces of his machines.

"Drec ec y mud rayjean dryh ed muugc--"

She didn't understand the words, but his tone made things more than clear. "Here," she said as she grabbed it and placed it on her shoulder with no real effort. "I got it." She wasn't sure if he'd understand **her** words, but she was hoping he'd get the idea.

"Y-you really don't have to do that." He wrung his gloved hands together as he spoke. "It's heavy, you'll get hurt--"

"Oh good, you do speak English," Katie said gratefully. "But don't worry about me. I used to do heavy lifting all the time when I helped out around the Temple." When she noticed that he looked away at that, she very quickly added, "Even though I was never much of a Yevon follower-- or New Yevon."

Katie felt herself relax as he looked at her again, smiling shyly as he pulled off his hood. And now that she was getting a good look at him, she noticed that there were a few things about him that weren't traditionally Al Bhed. Like for starters, his hair wasn't yellow. It was green. She wondered if it was a side effect of an experiment gone awry… and then she noticed the long sleeves and baggy pants, and wondered how he managed to survive traveling around Spira dressed like that.

"I don't speak much," he admitted as he took off his goggles. They were the same shade as his hair with swirled pupils-- that much about him was traditionally Al Bhed, at least. "I'm hoping to learn more."

"Considering how much we love to gossip here, I'm sure you'll master the language in no time," she assured him as she glanced at the crowd's final, persistent straggles. They were giving both of them dirty looks now. She allowed herself to give them a dirty look back. "So where do you want this?" She tilted her head towards the machine she was carrying.

"By the dock." He began gathering his tools. "It's for navigation, so ships won't… won't…" He made a frustrated sound. "What's the word again?"

"They won't get lost?" She offered.

His face lit up. "Yes, that's it. The Youth League asked me to build it for them-- even though I'm not much of a follower," he said as his grin widened.

"So you're part of the Machine Faction, then?"

"Sort of." He placed his tools in an oversized bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I work by myself, mostly."

She was guessing that they were going to head out to the dock soon, so Katie made sure he had a good grip on the machine before they started moving. "Maybe you should start calling yourself a free agent."

He blinked at her. "Is that the right word?"

"I think so." Then she led the way to the dock and he followed her silently, and they were already halfway out of the village when it occurred to her that after all that, they still didn't know each other's names.

"By the way, I'm Katie," she said, not seeing any point in being anything less than direct. "What's yours?"

He was quiet long enough for her to start wondering if she should have kept her mouth shut… but then he picked up his pace so that he was walking with her. "Trip."

"Oh." She felt herself smile at that. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Trip."

They were quiet after that, but it was much more comfortable than the previous silence between them. In fact, it was so comfortable that she almost didn't hear Trip murmur the words, "Dryhg oui."

She didn't know what that meant, either, but that was okay. She'd figure it out with time.

--

_Drec ec y mud rayjean dryh ed muugc_-- This is a lot heavier than it looks.

_Dryhg oui_-- Thank you.


End file.
